Hot Topic: Affordable Housing in Canada – National Crisis?

Carleton’s Ian Lee will be part of a panel called Affordable Housing: A Federal Role on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014 at the Government Conference Centre. In a climate in which housing is considered one of the most urgent financial issues facing all Canadians, Sprott School of Business expert Ian Lee will argue that the statistics tell a very different story.

“A careful review of the data from Statistics Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) data reveals that a lack of affordable housing is not a national issue requiring a national fix,” says Lee. “Rather, it is a problem in a handful of large urban cities (especially Toronto and Vancouver) and thus calls for a targeted policy approach.”

Lee is available to speak to the media about his argument in advance of the event.

Lee earned his PhD in public policy at Carleton in 1989. He has appeared multiple times before the House of Commons Finance and Senate Banking committees. He has been in every Government of Canada budget lockup since 2008. He attended pre-budget consultations with the Minister of Finance in 2009 and 2011.

Lee authored a seminal article on the Chretien-Martin downsizing of the public service in the 1996 How Ottawa Spends, called Pink Slips and Running Shoes. He also authored a similar piece on the Harper government downsizing of the public service in the 2013 How Ottawa Spends, and an article analyzing corporate income tax reductions and the 2011 federal election in the 2012 edition of the publication.